Seelonce, seelonce, seelonce 2011

Sound-installation (8 channel sound system, found audio, electronics)

Seelonce, seelonce, seelonce is a sound-Installation - 8 channel spatialisation that models the ebb and flow of waves rolling onto shore. Using found audio of SOS calls to the US coast guard the fuzz of radio and layers of conversation move through the space wave after wave, increasing and decreasing in intensity and clarity.

The piece relates to an order given to silence non-military radio broadcasts. Radio silence can also be maintained for other purposes, such as for highly sensitive radio astronomy, or in nautical and aeronautical communications to allow faint distress calls to be heard. The order: “Seelonce seelonce seelonce” is given when it is necessary for the radio stations in a the vicinity to stop transmitting. The written word ‘ seelonce’ is the English phonetic spelling of the French pronunciation of ‘silence’. Using found mayday alerts from the US coast guard and radio interference and silences at its base - the composition Seelonce, seelonce, seelonce! models the movement of the sea - periods of calm, moderate, rough and choppy compositions flow in and out of the space with the tides. The mayday messages emerge from the radio waves and sonic currents of these transmissions - Seelonce FINI.